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Old Ironport
Old Ironport was a carbonated soft drink manufactured and distributed by Hiram and Sons Incorporated. It was widely available in the intermountain west, and enjoyed its greatest popularity in Idaho and Utah. The Nuka-Cola corporation mounted a ferocious campaign to corner the western market with Nuka-Cola Wild, but Old Ironport was largely resistant to the larger corporation's pressure and remained the most popular soft drink in the region until the Great War. Appearance and Taste Old Ironport was marketed with nostalgia in mind. Its brown bottle featured a bearded mountain man rendered in 1800s woodcut style, the words "Old Ironport" written above and "Hiram and Sons" below. Old Ironport tastes similar to root beer, but with a slight mixture of spices to create a richer flavor. Pre-War Hiram and Sons Incorporated was a originally a general store in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Then called Hiram and Sons Food and Drug, it opened it 1951 and was closely held by the Rockwell family. The Rockwells were traditionally pharmacists, but Hiram Rockwell III broke the tradition when he began to bottle and sell Ironport in the store. Ironport was a traditional drink in the intermountain west, and Hiram originally started making and selling it to address the unmet demand. The bottled Ironport sold briskly and soon Hiram could not keep up with demand. Unable to trademark Ironport itself, he instead trademarked his recipe as Old Ironport, formed Hiram and Sons Incorporated, and made a serious foray into the soft drink bussiness. It took several years to expand operations across southern Idaho, but the real breakthrough was when Hiram was contacted by Yellowstone National Park. Because of Old Ironport's connection to the historical beverage and growing popularity in the region, the Park contracted Hiram to provide Old Ironport across all its facilities. Gaining national publicity, Old Ironport quickly spread across Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, and even made forays into Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada. Old Ironport soon butted heads with the distributors of Sunset Sarsaparilla and Nuka-Cola Wild. Eventually, a rapproachment was made with Sunset Sarsaparilla, with Old Ironport agreeing to stay out of Nevada if Sunset Sarsaparilla agreed to stay out of northern Utah. However, the Nuka-Cola Corporation was agahst by Old Ironport's popularity in markets it had dominated for years. Unable to buy Old Ironport from the stubborn Rockwell family, Nuka-Cola instead launched a massive campaign to win back consumers and crush the smaller company with the sheer volume of product the soda juggernaut could produce. Old Ironport responded by opening a second bottling plant in Boise, Idaho. The escalating conflict was ultimately snuffed out by the larger competition of the Great War. Post War Old Ironport is a ubiquitious sight in the cities of the Yellowstone Nations. Often the bottlecaps used by postwar survivors are emblazoned with "Hiram and Sons" rather than "Nuka Cola". It is still popular and is widely consumed across the Yellowstone. Locations Hiram and Sons National Headquarters, Idaho Falls Old Ironport Bottling Plant, Boise Category:Idaho Category:Miscellaneous